Samiyeh Balochzehi, 26, who was elected mayor by the Kalat city council, is an engineer and has a master’s degree in natural resources management from the Islamic Azad University Science and Research Branch in Tehran.

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Balochzehi is a widow, her sister is on the city council and she comes from a wealthy and influential family.

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The province of Sistan-Baluchistan is situated in southeastern Iran and at 187,502 square kilometers [72,395 square miles, roughly the size of Washington state] is Iran’s largest province. From the north of the province to the city of Zabol (famous ancient city) is the region of Sistan, whose population is mostly Persian-speaking and Shiite.

1 Response to First Baluchi Sunni woman elected mayor in Iran

So what is remarkable in this news?
Well,a sunni woman took part in elections and was elected as mayor in a city in Iran.
(Sunni women have rarely a chance to take part in elections and having a chance to win in sunni countries like Saudi Arabia. Shiite men or woman have no chance at all in those countries. Even in Bahrain where the majority is shiite but the ruling family is sunni, shiites have not even a chance to get an offical position)
We are also reading that her sister is on the city council (so also other sunni women have chances in Iran) and that her family is rich and influential. In Sunni countries Shia citizens have often no chance to be rich or influential, even though they come from the oil rich parts of the country (Saudi Arabia) they belong to the poorest people, and have not even the most basic rights.